Monday, August 30, 2010

I have decided to become an Arbonne consultant and try my hand at the home party business. Why? Here's my list of 8 reasons for right now. They may change later on.

1) Well, financially it would be nice to not be in such a tight spot. It would be great to be able to go out to eat when I have a horrible day with the children and not worry about blowing our budget. It would be wonderful to not already be thinking about what I might have to spend on back to school stuff for NEXT year when EJ will go to kindergarten. It would be great to actually start a college fund for the children. Our subaru is 10 years old and the kids are packed in the back like sardines. If the car dies this job would mean that we could afford a car payment . . . er VAN payment :)

2) We could get a third compassion child. We have had the same two kids for years--since before we got marrited. I would love to add a third child now that we have three of our own.

2) These products are awesome. No dyes. No artificial fragrances. No petroleum. No mineral oil. Safe for Elijah and Lydia.

3) The baby stuff is cloth diaper friendly.

4) The ezcema lotion has been wonderful for Lydia's skin. So the products actually work.

5) There is no one that we know of selling the produts in our area so I don't feel like I am "stealing" anyones clients away.

6) I love having my feet scrubbed and rubbed and these parties are pamper-rrific and let me share foot scrubs to other tired women.

7) I LOVE LOVE LOVE public speaking and am excited to get to talk to adults again.

8) I will actually have something to talk about besides my kids and their latest accomplishments.

Friday, August 27, 2010

This crazy, adorable, brilliant little 4 year old accepted Christ into his heart yesterday. He's been asking a LOT of questions since his best friend Dylan's grandpa passed away and since his Nana's dog Scout passed away. LOTS of them. Tough questions about heaven and hell and salvation. Yesterday it kinda came to a head and he and I were able to enjoy some time together, just the two of us, for about 30 minutes while his sissy's napped. He asked a lot of hard questions and I answered them the best I could. He let me know that he'd prayed "when I was 2" (which is sometime in the past . . . his concept of time needs a little work) and that God had put a little "god-piece" in his heart. We prayed together again just to be sure but he knew he was saved.

Praise God for working in his life this way. We are so proud of our little guy.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Yesterday in the playroom we had a fly. It was annoying. It was flying all over and the kids started yelling at it. I told them to stop then looked at Elijah and told him to catch it and we'd put it outside. He said OK then just reached out and grabbed it midair. I couldn't believe he'd caught it but he did. First try. Reminded me of chopsticks and the Karate Kid. Anyway, I opened the window and he threw it outside . . . right into a spider web. He is pretty sure the spider is going to put in a good word for him with Spiderman since he delivered lunch.

Bethany has an ear infection so if you see me out and about in a haze of semi-conciousness you'll know why. I honestly don't know how people survived pre-tylenol. Her fever was 101 yesterday and she was pretty miserable. After a horrible two nights her fever is down to only 99 this morning. I haven't taken her to the doctor yet . . .I am going to wait and see if she improves more by tomorrow. If she's still miserable we'll head out to the doctor but I wanted to give her body a chance to fight it off before I resorted to antibiotics. Our 72 hour rule has served us well in avoiding antibiotics. We've only had EJ on them twice and he's 4. Lydia has had 3 or 4 rounds because of pnumonia and related respiratory stuff. Still--way less than most US kids I think.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

The only smile I think we got on camera during the whole week-he's going through a "no picture" phase

Mommy's litle beach bum

Our fish

Exploring in the "quiet sea" at Granny's beach house on the sound

Family shot

The only in focus smile shot we got from photo session try #1

Fort Macon--before EJ's freak out

Jailhouse boy

I would show you some of the AWESOME shots of the baby sea turtles that we got to see but there was no flash allowed so I got a whole lot of completely black photos and some with some creepy red flashlights that you can't see anything unless you know what it is. Oh well--I've got the memories :)

We are back from a glorious vomit-filled week at the beach. We left out last Friday and about 2 hours before we left Elijah threw up. I chalked it up to a greasy lunch at Dicks with onion rings, eggs and bacon. He had no fever, was playing and acting normal and out of the blue just puked. He said he felt fine and he was super excited to go. Daddy got home and EJ was upstairs helping him pack and he threw up again. We decided to go ahead and go and grab some food on the way. We thankfully had the foresight to bring the "barf bucket" in the car because about 2 minutes down the road he threw up again. We decided to keep on going and fed Lydia snacks in the car. We ended up stopping before we left town, in Snow Hill and in Kinston to empty the bucket. After Kinston I decided that we were just GOING. No pee stops nothing. The baby was screaming, it was already 8pm and we were only 1/2 way there. Justin ended up holding an ever-filling bucket on his lap. Elijah felt great but about every 30 minutes he would yell "I need the bucket" and he would get sick. We made it to the beach about 9:45pm and no one slept in the car. I quickly nursed Bethany and laid her down to rest and the kids ran around the condo like crazy for a while. Justin and Granny got them to bed, we had a bowl of cereal and all went to bed.

Elijah vomited himself awake a few times and about 2am Lydia started joining in on the fun. Can I just say how greatful I am for Granny and for a condo with a washer and dryer. Both kids were done and hungry for breakfast by 6am. I couldn't believe how wonderful they were acting and how chipper they felt. They did take 4 hour naps on Saturday though. Over the course of the day I started feeling pretty crummy and running a fever. By that evening I had joined in the stomach wrenching fun. Mine lasted longer and I felt horrible until Monday morning. Thankfully I was nursing Bethany and she avoided getting anything. Praise God for Breastmilk antibodies!! Shortly after my recovery Granny got the bug and she stayed at the beach house on the sound to try and keep from re-infecting the clan. She was miserable for about 36 hours. Shortly after her recovery Justin came down with the bug and he was banished to the beach house. He was done in about 12 hours. So we survived our first ever stomach bug. Friday was our last day of vacation and no one threw up!

Other than the throwing up we had a great time. We ended up beaching it and pooling it and having a blast. Lydia started willingly going under the water. Elijah grew gills I think--he is part fish. He was thrilled to swim under the water, jump in the water and anything else involving water. We discovered the Mickey Mouse shaped pool was the kids' favorite but we frequented the indoor pool when we wanted to avoid the strong sun. Granny took the kids on the beach to watch the sun rise several mornings. Daddy and I prefered the afternoon jaunts to the beach with the rinse in the pool, picnic poolside and straight to bed after a nutty buddy on the porch. The kids just loved it.

Despite being in the same room and staying up very late almost every night, the kids did great. Lydia had a bad case of the whinies most days by naptime but they both napped well almost every day. It is good they were so busy and so tired because they were sharing a room in the condo. Bethany did pretty well and slept about as well as she was at home. She cut another tooth at the beach so she was pretty fussy from that.

We did end up eating out lunch one day at Cox so EJ got his rutabega fix. I am sad to say I went the entire week without eating a single shrimp. I did have some kick butt fried fish though.

Justin and I had the great idea to take the kids to Fort Macon to climb the rocks and explore on Friday. It was all going well until the overly tired children had to walk to the rocks and then Elijah cut his foot on a shell. He completely freaked out when he saw the blood and refused to walk for about 20 minutes. The cut was a tiny little scrape. When he finally calmed down enough to listen to us I gave him a big sip of "boo-boo" soda (caffiene free coke) and he was able to hobble back to the car. There he saw the cannons on the fort so we hesitantly agreed to let him go and see them. We went to the fort the summer before Elijah and I vowed I wouldn't return with my child until they were at least 10 years old. Something about a 20 ft. drop onto brick caused me a lot of anxiety. The kids loved the fort. The rooms with the barracks, the tunnels, the steep stairs, the tunnels. We let them lead the way, forced them to be carried up the stairs and hold hands 100% of the time and they had a blast. Who knew??

After a much less eventful trip home the kids slept great in their beds and got to go to their new sunday school rooms today. It was nice. I am so glad to be home and that we have a nice clean home to come home to.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Driving about town today we pulled up next to a truck with a pirate sticker on it.Lydia: "Mommy look. Pirates!!! Arrrrrgh Ahoy Ladies"Elijah: "No Lydia is is Arrrrgh Ahoy Maybes . . . May . . .bes"Lydia: "Oh--Arrrgh Ahoy babies"

Thursday, August 12, 2010

you sing the Popeye the Sailor man song at dinner to convince your kids that spinach is yummy and feign excitement over their growing muscles when they actually eat it.

You sound like you have tourette's when someone calls you on the phone:"Hey Janie ELIJAH GET YOU HAND OUT OF YOUR SISTERS PANTIES how are you doing today? Nah . . .nothing much going on here STOP ATTACKING THE BABYWITH YOUR TOY DINOSAURS same old same old. Sure I'd love to set up a playdate GET OFF OF THERE YOURE GONNA BREAK YOUR NECK anytime is good for us . . . "

You can cook dinner wearing a baby on your back with a toddler wrapped around your knees.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The thump thump sound of a little crawler accompanied by "ma ma" as she crawls to find me in another room. I am just so happy she can get to what she has been wanting to--she is a trip and already a pro at making messes. Video shelf emptied, sewing cabinet emptied, any bin in the toys she can reach emptied, tupperware cabinet emptied . . .

Monday, August 09, 2010

Let's see . . . This week I most certainly did not allow my two year old to wear froggy boots to church. I also wasn't completely relieved when she decided to wear her normal shoes when we got to the parking lot. Nope--I was kinda hoping to have to explain that one to all the people at church. I also wasn't just slightly proud of myself when I actually remembered to put her church shoes in the trunk before we left.

This week I didn't forget my purse and go grocery shopping only to have to leave my cart at the store because I had no way to pay for my stuff. I also didn't just tell the cashier that I wouldn't be coming back because I was too tired to drive home and get my purse and then come back. Nope, not me!

This week I most certainly didn't rejoice at my youngest finally being able to crawl EVERYWHERE. I am one of those sentimental types that hates to see new milestones reached--NOT! I also don't laugh and say "BONK!" every time she falls from pulling up to stand. Not me--I am one of those helicopter mom's that buys the pads for every piece of furniture so their kid doesn't get a head injury.

I also didn't pretend I was a troll and charge clothing for my "troll toll" as the children ran around after dinner. I never let my children strip after dinner and run out their energy before bathtime completely naked. I also didn't catch myself yelling at my son to "quit rubbing your scrotum on the couch!" after he had paid his tolls.

What about you? What didn't you do? Head to MckMama and you could win a free crochet beanie.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Today after bible school the kids were having a picnic lunch and I was feeding the baby in the dining room. After I got her cleaned up we joined the older two and I overheard Lyddie and EJ having this conversation:

L What that smell, lije?E: Ohh--it is stinkyL: Poppy diaper? Bethy you poopy?E: No! That's my feet. Lydia check this out (shoves foot in her face) this is so stinky.L: Ewwwww-tinky pinkies!Both: Mommy--smell this!Me: No thank you, I can smell them from here. EJ we're going to have to wipe those things off or something.

We wiped them with a wipe and most of the funk came off but he told me at naptime . . .

"I think we had better wash these feet better because they stick so much I can't stand myself and I'll never fall asleep for days and days if I have to smell that."

They truly were horribly stinky. I guess 3+ hours of playing in shoes with no socks makes for a horrible foot smell on an almost 4 year old boy.

Bethy and Lyddie in Matchy dresses (week #2) for church. These are pillowcase dresses. Cute enough but they looked like they were ready for a toga party. Don't think Iwill make them again.

Bethany is 7 months old today.

She is the proud owner of two little chompers--the bottom two

She likes to use her little chompers on me and any food you put in front of her and her siblings fingers

Bethany is a great eater--she doesn't much care for a sippy cup--she likes to drink from a glass. She loves to pick up cheerios, bananas, pears, peaches, puffs, toast and pancakes. She almost always has something of what we are having for dinner. I usually make her baby food but she does like the fruit purees like apples and prunes.

We had a great sleeping routine until these teeth started coming in. For the past week she's been up anywhere from 4 to 16 times a night. It is killing me. Before teeth she was down to getting up once or twice. I am hoping to go back to that soon.

She likes her paci but will settle for the two fingers in the middle of her right hand if she can't find that.

She is crawling about 3 crawls at a time but she can scoot, roll and wiggle across an entire room in no time.

She is pulling up to stand on a regular basis.

She LOVES to swing like Lydia and Elijah and actually giggles and belly laughs when she is going high.

She is the easist baby of all of our three--she will play contentedly on the floor with toys for 15 or 20 minutes. If her brother and sissy are playing with her it can wasily stretch to 30 or 40 minutes without needing me for anything.

She is a nip-a-holic. She loves mama milk and signs milk and says "mama" when she wants it. Nursing her is not easy or relaxing though. She pops on and of trying to see what going on all around. No watching TV, reading a book or anything while nursing. Sometimes I have to turn on a program for the older two and go to the bedroom and lay down with her to get her to nurse well, otherwise she'll suck a bit, get a letdown, spray us with milk and want to get down and then nurse again 15 minutes later. She is our most distractable baby.

She prefers cloth diapers to disposables.

She loves to go in the sling but she is now a big fan of riding in the shopping cart. She thinks it is so funny to get to sit in the airplane with Lydia at Harris Teeter or to ride facing mommy at the grocery. Her absolute favorite though is Walmart with her brother and sissy in the two seater thing behind the cart and her in the regular cart. She can see all three of us and the older two mess with her constantly.

She is on the verge of being able to say "lige" (for Elijah) consistantly. A lot of times it comes out "la la" but when she gets "lige" out she is so proud.

Super-lijah himself--shoting his webThe big event was a "web-fight" complete with shootable webs (silly string). All but one little boy thought this was a blast. I love this shot as you can 1) see me! I am in the shot 2) See the cute capes the little boys wore and 3) see how they all ganged up on me.

We put spiderwebs on the bushes and his little spiderman was shooting the house. He was holding onto the bush. I wrote KaPow and Wham and other things in big letters on the sidewalk with chalk. Channeling inspiration from the old school Batman episodes.

The cake--my first adventure into chocolate sculpture. It didn't fall down and you could tell what it was supposed to be so I am happy. I know it is crazy out of proportion but I liked it that way and planned it that way--it isn't a mistake.

Can't believe my little boy will be four years old on Friday. We had his party on Saturday because my parents and a few of his little buddies were going to be out of town this weekend. It was fun. We had a superhero party--non descript superhero. I made a spiderman cake, made all of the kids their own capes and just decorated with some streamers. Pretty low key. EJ had four little buddies over and then we had the family come over after they left. That worked very well. EJ was READY for his buddies to go after an hour. He is social but he'd had enough--I think he was just really overwhelmed. He ended up laying on the chair with a blanket over his head.We didn't do presents at the party because I knew EJ would want to do his new Tag books or not share his new toys. I didn't want the drama.We did presents and pizza with family and the kids took great naps. It was fun.

About Me

Covey is a single mom to three wonderful children. She works at Greenfield school and teaches science to preschoolers through 7th grade. In her spare time she loved to decorate cakes, crochet and scrapbook.

Covey

I am a mom and a follower of Jesus. I am the primary author of this blog. I strive to love my life and be content every day but occasionally use this a forum to vent or seek advice. Most of the posts are about our life and my kids--I use the blog to help me go back and relive the funny things that happen and our struggles and trials. I am very interested in green living (cloth diapering, making my own cleaners and detergents etc.), organic gardening and cooking and in saving money. I strive to be the best mother I can. I am a science teacher at Greenfield School and loveteaching.